I am but a humble traveler, blessed beyond what I could ever ask for.

All posts filed under: Bucket List

Darkness abound, and we look for light. We look for illumination that will save us from the nothingness seeming to persevere, taking over all beauty. Why don’t we know—that light is everywhere, and, the brightest of all, is within us all along. Image and video taken at the Poconos Lantern Fest. I was in awe when the lanterns finally started lighting up the sky like stars. Sadly, the event was disorganized and I’d recommend going to a different one if you could find a similar festival. It was still however a beautiful night, the feeling of wonder as each flicker of light illuminated the darkness like constellations, is one I’ll always remember. Advertisements

If one has to look down to admire Bryce, the massive rock formations in Zion would have you gazing up in awe at its grandeur, magnificence, vastness and scale. Driving up to Zion was, just like most of Utah-Arizona-New-Mexico trip, driving up to a movie set. Or even a Disney amusement park with its large scale, nature themed rides. It was a perfect day, just enough sun, enough mists above the mountains for them to be picturesque, disappearing as mid morning crept in. I’d discovered there were two ends to Zion, you can enter one and think you’re seeing these grand, red canyons, then you pass a tunnel and then you’ll see these white, smooth and patterned rocks. We were less lazy that day, too. Driving to different spots, yes, but actually having the chance to hike a little, finally. We weren’t feeling all that well throughout the trip — having pushed to finish deadlines before vacation thereby exhausting ourselves both physically and mentally almost to the point of getting sick. So it was quite …

We were halfway into our most recent trip when we got to Arizona. The agenda for the day was to see Antelope Canyon, a slot canyon located in a Navajo land. Formed by erosion of sandstone, the canyon is continuously changing with the effects of water, wind and time. We (and by we I mean my super planner of a boyfriend) had scheduled a tour of the upper canyon for the morning and the lower canyon for the afternoon. We were advised that the best time to see the canyons is at about 10:30 in the morning, so we had made a reservation for said slot. The waiting area is open, not much seating and except for the road coming into it, nothing much around except the vast dessert that surrounds. The upper canyon is a few miles from the waiting area. Our group boarded a small open vehicle that can seat five on each side. The drive to the canyon offered us a chance to see the dessert leading up to it, lasting approximately …

As promised, I am writing a long-overdue continuation of my Alaska post. Almost a year since then, and it has been a mentally draining day so it really wouldn’t be one of substance, but still. The last time I wrote here, I mentioned the fun superman zip line in Subic, Philippines being different from others I’ve done before, which reminded me of this. Should you have a trip to Alaska planned soon, I’d say don’t miss the chance to experience a zip line adventure in Ketchikan. The experience had us zipping over 8 lines adding up to a total of roughly 6,000 feet of wires, with the final zip line measuring more than 55 feet above the ground. Imagine all these over the Tongass National Forest — surrounded by nature and crisp, cool air — and you’ve got yourself the perfect Alaskan adventure. I took a tour through Princess Cruises, so unfortunately I am unable to recommend a zip lining tour. My experience was good, though, as compared to my prior cruise tour horror stories, so I would not recommend against going through …

It has been a while since my last update. Suffice it to say that it has been a busy time, but I am glad to be writing here again. I recently took a trip back home to the Philippines for my cousin’s wedding — it was a special occasion, as she’s very dear to me. In addition, all our cousins who now work and live in different countries as well as different parts of the Philippines went home to be a part of it. The wedding itself was beautiful, a traditional ceremony between two individuals radiating in love, witnessed by family and friends. It doesn’t get any more special than that, really. Since everyone was home and it’s a rarity these days, we took advantage and went on a family trip a day after the festivities. We headed off to Subic (it was only a few hours drive from our home town and wouldn’t take that much of a toll on everyone having come from travel and the occasion the day before). Zoobic Safari There were two standouts …

We were driving through Skagway on the 7th day of our trip when one of the most memorable sites I’ve laid my eyes on came to view. The hills varied in sizes, enveloping the stretch of road we were on from both sides. They were covered with snow — not quite melted but you could see it’s on the verge, creating a striped black and white pattern as far as one can see. They were amazingly beautiful and unexpected — words that summed up not only Skagway but the entire trip, and yet do not do them justice. How do you describe standing in the midst of snowy hills and cotton candy clouds weaving across, looking up at snow-capped mountains in the distance? How do you put into words the feeling of awe as you watch an eagle fly, soaring over the light blue centuries-old glaciers; or the childlike wonder after finding a piece of two-hundred year-old ice that floated onto the shore off an iceberg? It is incomprehensible until you are standing in the middle of the massive grandeur of …

One of the items on my bucket list is to come face to face with madame Mona Lisa, an experience I was able to check off during a visit to The Louvre when I traveled to Paris with my Contiki group. That morning, our visit started with our tour manager telling our group that he would be showing us a secret entrance to The Louvre known only to a few. This, he said, would help us skip a lot of the longer lines. He of course had also pre-purchased our tickets. True to his word, we were able to get in without a hitch. The Louvre, we found out, was originally intended to be a castle but eventually determined not to be extravagant enough to serve its purpose. (This is the reason they built Versailles, which I wrote about in a previous post.) The museum itself is so large that if you would like to be able to see all the collections, you would need to dedicate a few days (maybe even more). We did …